Government

6:00 am

Tue January 29, 2013

UTD freshman Zaheer Pasha wants Perry to talk about school funding: “Definitely I would like him to address (public) education. They’ve been cutting a lot of teachers off. If they get more funding it will provide those kids more opportunities.”

UTD political science student Michael Walters wants Perry to address guns in schools: “I would like him to address this gun violence issue. I think it is ludicrous that we’re asking teachers to go out and get armed.”

UTD student Frederike Leipold wants Perry to address college tuition: “I think a big issue is access to public (higher) education. Considering how expensive UTD is there’s really not a lot of options for people to get higher education.”

Shelley KoflerKERA News

Governor Rick Perry will be thinking about his political future as well as his legislative priorities when he delivers his seventh state-of-the-state speech this morning.

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Perry’s address to legislators at 11:00 a.m. will identify his agenda as he considers whether to run for reelection next year or take another shot at the presidency.

Listeners can expect some tall bragging about the Texas economy and a recurring pledge to keep taxes low.

The governor may repeat his desire to use a so-called surplus to cut taxes even further, though many lawmakers want to use any available money to restore deep cuts in education and other programs made during the last session.

Perry may use his high profile appearance to call for school choice, greater restrictions on abortion and his pledge to keep Washington out of Texas’ business.

Not everything on Perry’s wish list will get done but his batting average is better than .500. The fact-checking project, PolitiFact Texas, says Perry fulfilled or reached agreement on some 54 percent of the promises he made during his last gubernatorial campaign.

The governor’s state-or-the-state address can be seen live, online at the following places: